FSM Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,897 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,124,000 after buying an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307,047 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 406.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,974 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 650.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $83.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $258.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $86.57.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 37.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.